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Oklahoma high school girls wrestling: Other states with girls state competition

The Oklahoma state wrestling tournament has included girls in the past, but this weekend at State Fair Arena, girls will have a separate tournament. For the first time ever, Oklahoma will crown champions in girls wrestling. [SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN]

Other states with girls state competition

In 1998, Hawaii created the first sanctioned high school girls wrestling tournament in the United States.

Texas followed the next year, and states such as Washington (2007) and California (2011) came later.

In the past three years, though, girls wrestling has exponentially grown throughout the country. Individual participation numbers have continued to expand for 30 years, according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

This year, 18 states will have sanctioned high school girls state wrestling tournaments. Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland and New Mexico will host their first state tournaments this year. Arizona has also classified girls wrestling as an emerging sport, meaning girls could continue to wrestle on boys teams but could compete in girls-only events.

Montana and Utah will have sanctioned tournaments beginning in 2021 and are a part of 15 states this year that will host unofficial championships, including Oklahoma.

Here’s a list of states that will have sanctioned girls wrestling championships in 2020:

Cameron Jourdan joined The Oklahoman in March 2019 to cover high school sports. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2018. He had an internship with The Oklahoman and Stillwater News Press. During his time at OSU, Cameron served in a...
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